Alas for the One through Whom the Umbrage Comes

Albania(sq)

Made by the highly influential Russian cameraman Roman Karmen, this documentary vividly features Albanian life immediately after the communists came to power in 1944. The film is especially memorable since it’s missing much of the heavy socialist realism that marked Albanian doc making. Shortly after he completed the film, Karmen set off for Berlin to shoot the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Triedny nepriateľ(sk)

In the 11th Festival of Song(sq)

No one knows why for certain, but from 1968 to 1973 communist Albania enjoyed a brief liberalisation in the arts. Banned books and Beatles records changed hands. Albania’s Nobel-nominated novelist Ismail Kadare wrote two of his most famed masterpieces, Kështjella (The Castle) (1970) and Kronikë në gur (Chronicle in Stone) (1971) during this period. The rock'n'roll and jazz arrangements featured in this concert documentary were the pretext that brought about the end to the artistic thaw. Several performers seen in the festival were sent to prison or internal exile. The portly, smiling music conductor, Gasper Çurçia, was later accused of forging bus tickets and executed.

Les Cartoons bannis(fr)

American Crusaders(en)

A harrowing exploration of the rapid rise of American religious fanaticism after 9/11. This film explores an emerging ultra Right Wing mass movement seeking dominion over all aspects of contemporary American society. The film weaves archival video, contemporary Christian Nationalist movement propaganda (recruiting videos, apocalyptic/military videogame imagery, etc.) and original investigative material) to create an intense examination of the totalistic mindset and its will to power.

Die Wechsler im Tempel(de)

A visual allusion of the cleansing of the temple to numerous crimes. The film draws an arc from the Crusades to the Holocaust and the Vietnam War.

Der Schwarze Kanal oder Armes Deutschland(de)

Documentary about the life and career of Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler, presenter and creator of the infamous GDR propaganda programme 'Der Schwarze Kanal' ('The Black Channel').

Amazing China(zh)

Amazing China is a documentary film edited and produced based on the six-episode documentary series "Brilliant China" broadcasted on China Central Television (CCTV). The film is a joint production of China Central Television and China Film Co., Ltd. It premiered on March 2, 2018, in major cinemas across the People's Republic of China. The documentary highlights the achievements of the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by General Secretary Xi Jinping since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012.

Speak of the Devil(en)

But what is the Church of Satan? Who is Anton LaVey? Where is he from? Why does he do that? It does not take much to imagine the worst. Orgiastic ceremonies, where one revels in the blood of virgins, moonlight lamb sacrifices, noise concerts in the basement of a historical building… No, really nothing that amusing among the activities in the Church of Satan. Anton LaVey is nothing like a horned Charles Manson, and his path is all the more unexpected. Nick Bougas allows us to discover the artist, the musician, the philosopher, all through hallucinatory images retrieved from archives, making this rare documentary only two years before the author of the Satanic Bible disappeared.

The History of the Civil War(ru)

The epic story of the Russian Civil War (1918-21): the White Terror, the counterrevolutionary uprisings, the guerrilla war, the Kolchak front, the Wrangel front and the Kronstadt rebellion. Chaos and violence, devastation and death.

China: The Uighur Tragedy(fr)

A relentless chronicle of the tragedy of the Uighurs, an ethnic minority of some eleven million people who live in the Xinjiang region of northwest China, speak a Turkic language and practice the Muslim religion. The Uighurs suffer brutal cultural and political oppression by Xin Jinping's tyrannical government: torture, disappearances, forced labor, re-education of children and adults, mass sterilizations, extensive surveillance and destruction of historical heritage.

It’s Not Always Cloudy(cs)

A film about life in the Czech borderlands after the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans.

Enthusiasm. Symphony of Donbas(ru)

An audiovisual symphony that delves into the industrial, agrarian, and cultural fabric of the Donbas region during the inaugural Soviet Five Year Plan. It spotlights anti-religious campaigns, propagandistic marches, and the vibrant athletic culture of its time

The Eleventh Year(ru)

The film is dedicated to the achievements of the Ukrainian SSR for the eleventh anniversary of the October Revolution.

The Lovers and the Despot(en)

Hong Kong, 1978. South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee is kidnapped by North Korean operatives following orders from dictator Kim Jong-il.

The Oil Symphony(ru)

The Oil Symphony is a film about the heroic efforts of Azerbaijani labourers drilling for oil.

Atentát na kulturu(cs)

Anniversary of the Revolution(ru)

A chronicle of the Russian Revolution of 1917, from the bourgeois democratic February Revolution to the great socialist October Revolution and the final triumph.

Under the Sun(de)

Over the course of one year, this film follows the life of an ordinary Pyongyang family whose daughter was chosen to take part in Day of the Shining Star (Kim Jong-il's birthday) celebration. While North Korean government wanted a propaganda film, the director kept on filming between the scripted scenes. The ritualized explosions of color and joy contrast sharply with pale everyday reality, which is not particularly terrible, but rather quite surreal.

Mr. Nobody Against Putin(da)

As Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, primary schools across Russia’s hinterlands are transformed into recruitment stages for the war. Facing the ethical dilemma of working in a system defined by propaganda and violence, a brave teacher goes undercover to film what’s really happening in his own school.